I have the utmost respect for local musicians. To have the drive and resolve to forma band, practice and write their own music and lyrics is not something done easily. It takes a lot of creativity and talent to do that and I try and support local shows as much as I can. I went and saw a good local show at the Launchpad earlier this year and it was the first time I had been there where there was no touring band. The fact I could have reached out and touched every single artist was sweet. Summerfield place played first. My friend James is the bass player in the band so I have a soft spot for this particular group. They play pop punk music and are full of energy and life as they play. You can tell the passion they have for performing simply because there was maybe 15 people there, yet they acted like it was a stadium of 50,000. The vocalist, with his perfectly high pitched pop punk voice, belted out the angsty lyrics (some of which I knew which I was very proud of) and while he was busy dancing around the stage and rocking out, the rest of the band also was getting into it, head banging and bouncing around the small stage. The music was raw but enjoyable to listen to, but really I was most excited about how happy they were to be performing live. Because that is what music is all about.

The next band I can’t quite remember the name of. Something about bats and wings. The singer had some absolutely filthy dreds and called us out when my group and me attempted to go look at the merch table just as they were about to start playing. I was not pleased with being called out but we returned to the front and listened intently to their attempt at sounding like Lincoln Park. I don’t mean to sound rude. I had very, very low expectations and they surpassed them admirably. I just don’t enjoy that kind of music or being called out when I am one of the few people in the venue paying any attention at all. But I will give my utmost respect to them for getting out there and performing.

Con Razon played next and I had seen them before in a much smaller venue. They are a sweet mixture of Latin ska, and punk. Their keyboardist was actually in my 9th grade biology class. The awkward part was, he was a senior. So granted he does not remember me at all but I still think its sweet he’s in such a good band. One day I’ll ask him if he remembers me. The one thing I did not enjoy was the forced viewing of their music video. But… that’s why we were all there apparently. They then played the song from the music video again. It was a good song to be sure, but honestly, not good enough to play twice.

Then the anticipation for the Big Spank began and the assholes being to emerge. They asked my brother and me if we even liked ska and why we weren’t dancing. They acted like it was the end of the world I was not jumping out of my skin in anticipation to see the Big Spank. When the Big Spank finally got on, about 5 drunk jack asses attempted to mosh/skank around us, shoving us and being the opposite of what a good ska fan is: jovial and happy. The more they pushed, the more other people in the crowd began to get angry and I foresaw a fight brewing. The feeling of the concert had gone sour in my opinion so, for the first and only time in my life, I left a show early. Still, shout out to the earlier bands for following their dreams of being in a band. I respect that.